The Michigan Wolverines came into the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl the kind of hype that has been rare in Jim Harbaugh’s time as head coach. Thanks to a win over Ohio State and a Big Ten title, some thought that Harbaugh had turned the corner and finally turned Michigan into the championship program many expected after his time in the NFL came to an end.
However, Michigan got beat pretty thoroughly by the Georgia Bulldogs, 34-11, in a game that wasn’t even that close. Afterward, Harbaugh talked about how this season was the beginning of a new era for the Wolverines.
“It was a great season,” Harbaugh said. “To me, it’s one of the best seasons in Michigan football, and we were trying to make it greater tonight. It’s still a beginning for this team. It’s where it began last year, and it’ll begin anew this year.”
However, given how much we’ve seen college coaches bail on their team at a moment’s notice when the right opportunity presents itself, there are plenty of people wondering if this is the time for Harbaugh to jump back to the NFL. Michigan still has a ways to go to get over the hump of challenging Alabama, Georgia, and the SEC for college football dominance, and Ohio State and Michigan State are coming back reloaded in 2022. If Harbaugh got a hail mary offer from the Las Vegas Raiders to return to the pros, would he take it?
Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk doesn’t think so. Florio notes that Harbaugh recently said he’d coach Michigan for free, so it’s hard to imagine that he’d be driven by a big-money offer. However, Harbaugh loves a challenge and tends to wear out his welcome wherever he goes even if he does well, so perhaps he’s looking for a fresh start.
“…What if Mark Davis offers to pay Harbaugh a whole lot more than zero dollars plus benefits?” asked Florio. “Is there a number that will get him to finish what he started with the 49ers, a team he took to the Super Bowl in only his second season on the job? What if other NFL teams, like Carolina, get in on the Harbaugh action? Or how about the Bears, the team that made Harbaugh a first-round draft choice 35 years ago?”
Meanwhile, before the Orange Bowl result, Paul Finebaum said that he thought Harbaugh might leave if Michigan had won the national title. That’s not going to happen now but the fact that Finebaum was considering it is worth discussion. He notes that, unlike many other college coaches, Harbaugh has a lot of good results in the pros already.
“With a national championship, I do think Jim Harbaugh would be primed for the NFL,” Finebaum said on Keyshawn, JWill, and Max. “I’ve always felt like he’s better in the NFL. Having said that after his best season as a college coach, but a lot of us have forgotten how good he was with the (San Francisco) 49ers. He went to a couple of (NFC) championship games. He went to the Super Bowl. Lost to his brother, of course, when the (Baltimore) Ravens won. I think he’s better suited for that game. It would be a Disney movie, the fact that Jim Harbaugh, the man that everyone wrote off, no one more than me, wins the national championship and then marches off to the (Chicago) Bears or wherever he decides. But I would not rule it out.”
On the “Move The Sticks” podcast, Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah thought that Harbaugh would be an ideal fit for the Raiders, who are likely to want to make a home-run hire to replace Jon Gruden.
“This is the perfect time for it,” Brooks said. “If you’re Jim Harbaugh, you’ve parlayed a pay cut and having your contract reduced into a major payday – either at Michigan or being able to flex and go to the National Football League where you were very successful.”
It’s always worth noting that, in four seasons in the NFL, Harbaugh went 44-19-1 and led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2012. That’s the kind of NFL coaching record that many team owners would kill for. So as much as Harbaugh might have his job at Michigan for as long as he wants it, the pros are always going to be watching. And if he’s interested, there will definitely be interest back.
[PFT]
